Once again 11/11 has rolled around and so I can write about Pocky Day once again. I dug out my giant Pocky and batted a few rowdy kids on the head with it today (which of course makes them rowdier.)
It's about a metre long (therefore 大き Ooki or large), so I thought of creating a dance with it today similar to the Hokey Pokey, perhaps using it as a limbo bar or something. But the Grade One kids were rambunctious enough today without riling them up further.
I gave each of the teachers a Pocky today during the staff meeting, much to their surprise. (C'mon, they were a buck off due to a Halloween sale.)
After that, I made a little sign on my desk.
The principal pointed out to us that today is also Salmon Day since the second part of the kanji for 鮭 (sake or salmon) is an 11over an 11.
By coincidence, I just watched this segment of John Oliver that is rather apropos.
I also referred to today as Dog Day and a few of the Grade One kids got the gag before the teacher did.
The sound of dogs barking in Japanese is ワンワン (Wan-wan), so One-One/ One-One or 1-1/1-1 is appropriate.
Of course, my fellow Canadians will know this poem very well. Happy Remembrance Day to one and all.
Here are some poppies that I came across in a park last June.
My tongue in cheek Pocky Day post in no way diminishes the sentiments felt by myself and others on Remembrance Day.
I taught "In Flander's Fields" to my students yesterday and I wish I had a Poppy to proudly wear today. An old university colleague expressed it best on FaceBook and I'm going to scam his post.
"For anyone out there playing "Call of Duty." My dad, Ted Harris, answered the real call of duty and served with distinction in WWII and for 30 years in the forces. He was proud to do so, but unlike a video game, war was never fun and never "awesome." He wanted the horror he experienced in the war to be remembered, but not romanticized or glorified. He left behind a request to be buried with the blue beret he wore as a U.N. Peace Keeper, one of his proudest moments in uniform. His wish was that some day the brave men and women of our armed forces would not have to make the sacrifices his generation did. This year, I wish to honour their service and also my father's desire for peace."
Thanks Paul.
Say the secret word and you'll win passage on a Submarine. Did anyone else find it odd that Indy would hitch a ride on the hull of a U-Boat whose primary function is normally to go underwater? I always thought this was a bit of a shenanigans but as per this Wiki it traveled faster above the water than below it and thus it was safe to lash yourself to the hatch with your whip. I certainly hope he overheard the Captain's orders, because that's quite a gamble otherwise!
Did you know that for the external shots of the sub, they rented the U-Boat from Das Boot to do so? Check it out!
I'm too tired to actually blog anything interesting but I will share something that a follower of mine FBed (is that a verb?) Thanks to Nigel for...
While I'm at it, let's check out some dietary differences between Japan & America as well (throw Canada into that mix too, our Obesity index is nothing to brag about.)
Speaking of Canada, I found their recruitment videos to be rather dull. So instead, let's see what happens when Rick Mercer visits our Nautical Canucks.
Since I'm on a YouTube roll, here's one that I FBed.
Finally, I'd like to send out a welcome to a new follower. As far as I can tell he has nothing to plug, regardless, a big Hey Now to Sam McNew. He appears to be an Oz fan, so I promise to showcase another book soon.
At around noon 65 years ago, Japan officially surrendered ending WWII. Called VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) outside of Nippon, in Japan, the day is known as the "memorial day for the end of the war", 終戦記念日, (Shūsen-kinenbi) though the official name for the day is "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace", 戦歿者を追悼し平和を祈念する日 (Senbotsusha wo tsuitōshi heiwa wo kinennsuru hi).
SEE:
But enough of all that. Let's talk about something really serious...the murder of elephants and other animals at Ueno Zoo.
"There are numerous Japanese depictions and stories of the wartime slaughter of animals at Ueno Zoo: from the enormously popular and influential picture book Kawaisōna Zō (The Pitiful Elephants), originally published by Tsuchiya Yukio as a short story for children in 1951, then as a picture book in 1970 with 163 editions to date–to the recent TV drama Zō no Hanako (The Elephant Hanako). The story has also travelled outside Japan, with two English and one French translations of Kawaisōna Zō. Most of these depictions portray the slaughter of the animals as motivated by the wish to protect humans from more or less immediate danger and accept the starvation of the elephants as unavoidable."
Scammed from Starving Elephants - The Slaughter of Animals in Wartime Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. Read the rest of the story at that link...it is not a happy story.
My online Japanese teacher explains further about the book, かわいそうなぞう here. "It is a true story about three elephants at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo during World War II. I read it for the first time when I was in elementary school. I remember it was very sad and I strongly hoped that a war would never happen again. I haven't read it for a quite a long time, but I recently had the opportunity to read the story again. I still found myself with tears in my eyes while I read it. Chieko Akiyama, a 93-years-old journalist, has been reciting the story on the radio every August 15th for over 40 years."
Here is the opening paragraph in English.
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the Ueno Zoo. Their petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun. Beneath the cherry trees, crowds of people are pushing to enter the zoo on such a beautiful day. Two elephants are outside performing their tricks for a lively audience. While blowing the trumpets with their long trunks the elephants walk along large wooden logs.
and the closing paragraph:
Later, when the bodies of the elephants were examined nothing was found in their washtub like stomachs – not even one drop of water. With tears in their eyes, the zoo keeper finished his story. “These three elephants – John, Tonky and Wanly – are now resting peacefully under this monument.” He was still patting the tombstone tenderly as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.
I can't find a version in Japanese of this story anywhere and I'm not sure if this Japanese version is a parody or not, it sure sounds like one.
Did you know that Cyndi Lauper has read the English version of it? I couldn't find a copy of it, instead let's cheer you up a bit with...
If you want Faithful Elephants, you'll have to pick up a copy yourself.
If I haven't done a good enough job of depressing all of you, here are the themes of the saddest anime ever, 火垂るの墓, (Hotaru no Haka) or The Grave of the Fireflies.
Today is the 66th anniversary of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour. I'm not going to weigh in on it except to mention that I just saw an ad for the movie on my movie channel. They loves their war movies over here...
The title is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise was achieved (虎 tora is Japanese for "tiger", but in this case, "To" is the initial syllable of the Japanese word 突撃 totsugeki, meaning "charge" or "attack", and "ra" is initial syllable of 雷撃 raigeki, meaning "torpedo attack"). (From Wiki.)
I haven't posted any propaganda comic covers in a while. As always, they're courtesy of the fine folks at GCD and I think these are my first Wonder Woman covers.
